14/01/2022
The hatchlings have all shed their skin for the first time, and 8 of 12 have eaten their very first pinky mouse.
At this age they’re at the bottom of the food chain in the wild, so instinct for them is to be fearful, and sometimes defensive.
Getting them to eat first meal can be a tedious job, especially as the food given is frozen and thawed baby mice. Hatchlings in the wild would generally eat skinks, baby mice etc but these would be live and their movements attract and stimulate the young snake to eat. So the pinky mice are warmed to body temperature before being offered to the hatchlings to eat. It can take anything from 1 to 30 minutes to entice a hatchling to eat first meal, if they eat at all. When they don’t eat one day we leave them be and try again each day. Nearly always persistence pays off.
